It only takes a few clicks and a couple of minutes to connect your Salesforce Org to Elements and initiate the sync of your metadata. You can connect multiple Orgs (Production Org and its derivative Sandbox Orgs) based on the number of available connection licenses.
Article outline
Prerequisites
Permissions required
Connecting an Org
Connection settings
Installing Elements Managed Package
Installing Chrome Extension
FAQs
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Prerequisites
Make sure you are logged out of all Orgs, Trailhead, AppExchange, SuccessCommunity and SalesforceHelp sites. This is to ensure no wrong user token is used in the installation process.
Make sure you have all the right permissions to run the sync in Salesforce and in Elements (see below).
You are either on a Trial plan or you have purchased a Salesforce connection license.
If you want to connect multiple Production Orgs you have an appropriate number of implementations created.
Permissions required
In order to connect an Org for the first time in Elements you must be an Editor or Space Admin in the Space.
However, for the Org to successfully complete a sync you must have enough permissions in Salesforce to complete the sync. See more details on this here.
To run subsequent ad-hoc/manual syncs, any user with editor, manager, or owner permissions on an Org can trigger a sync.
Connecting an Org
Select the "Salesforce Orgs" menu item in the main application and click "Connect Org" button in the upper-right corner of the screen.
Select whether you want to connect a Production or a Sandbox Org. If it is a trial Space you will have an implementation already created, otherwise, you might need to create your first implementation.
Log in to the target Org with your Salesforce credentials.
That's it! The sync has started, and you will be notified when the Org Model has been built and analysed. The sync is also scheduled automatically at a random time between 9 PM and 6 AM in your time-zone. You can change the schedule in the Org settings.
Connection settings
For any connected Salesforce Org, you can open the Org settings tab in the right panel to adjust the connection settings. This tab is only visible to users with Space Admin permission.
Available options:
Change the time of the daily scheduled sync or disable it altogether,
Change if the Org model should be pointing to the Classic or Lightning version of your Org.
Refresh the user authentication token if it has expired or if you refreshed the underlying Sandbox.
Create a Chatter group for end-user feedback.
Start the sync manually.
Disconnect the Org (you must click on the three dots in the right panel).
Installing Elements Managed Package
If you want to provision your Salesforce users to have access to Elements via Single Sign-On or if you want to analyse how different fields are used across available records (field % population) then you need to install our managed package to connected Org.
Installing Chrome Extension
To see Elements insights and in-app help inside Salesforce Setup and record pages, you need to install the Chrome Extension.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the data stored?
We only store your configuration metadata, not your Salesforce data, i.e. objects, fields, email templates, apex triggers. This is stored in our database running on AWS, not on the Salesforce platform. Here is our Data Security and Compliance Document
Do you store my password?
No. We authenticate against your Salesforce password using OAuth, so we never see or store your password.
How long does it take to sync the Org?
It depends on the complexity and size of the Org. A standard Dev Org can take 15 minutes to sync while very big and complex Orgs can take up to 4 hours.
You might be also interested in
Separate article on troubleshooting the sync - find out what goes on behind the scenes
Right permissions to run the sync - check out if your permissions suffice to sync your Org
Data Security and Compliance Document - find out what do we do to make sure you are in good, secure hands
Our data security policies and certifications - find out what steps we take to ensure your and your data security while working with Elements